FRANCE FIN DU XVIe siècle

FRANCE FIN DU XVIe siècle

TABLE WITH LENGTHS SAID "À l'ITALIENNE"
Burgundy, Second French Renaissance, circa 1560-1580 Blond
walnut
H. 83,5 cm, L. (without extensions) 160 cm, L. (with extensions) 282 cm, D. 89 cm
The French table underwent a metamorphosis during the Renaissance. Inspired by Italy in its form and decoration, it was born in the crucible of the Fontainebleau School, where architects and ornamentalists such as
Jacques Androuet du Cerceau and Hugues Sambin were trained. Both a ceremonial table and a "piece of sculpture", it marks "one of the summits of the art of furniture in France" (J.Thirion).
Our table is made up of a frame formed by two legs with skates connected by a wide boxed spacer.
Its top unfolds thanks to the new mechanism of the extensions, a French or Flemish invention described by Bonnaffé: the lower top, separated in its width into two halves mounted on tilting slides, can be pulled out at will, each half adjusting to the ends of the upper top which folds down to the same level. Two columns with Ionic capitals rise on the lateral foot-rests, framing a pilaster with flutes and plant friezes, and supporting the high curved belt. This base is dressed with scrolled plant forms and a rosette surrounded by friezes of ovum. The wide spacer presents four finely turned balusters composing a semicircular colonnade. The latter supports the double-layered top, flanked at each corner by a flattened spinning top. Plugs at the end of the extensions are used to pull them. Automatically translated by DeepL. To see the original version, click here.